Airtel is said to have launched a new recharge pack worth Rs. 597 for its subscribers in various circles in an effort to take on the rivals such as Jio. Under the latest offer, Airtel is offering voice calling benefits for the long term. The key highlight of this plan is the validity it comes with - 168 days. Apart from calling, the telco is also offering some data benefits. With the new recharge pack, Airtel is directly countering Reliance Jio's long-term prepaid plans. Notably, this offer is reportedly available only for select subscribers in a few regions, and it may take some time for a wider rollout.
Under the new recharge plan, Airtel is offering unlimited voice calls without any FUP limit, for 168 days, TelecomTalk reports. Additionally, the telco is said to be offering 100 SMS messages per day for the validity period. When it comes to data benefits, Airtel users will reportedly only get 10GB of data for the entire period. The data benefits under the plan are quite less when there are other plans in the market that come with a higher amount of data. However, it seems that Airtel is only targetting users who require unlimited voice calling for a longer validity period.
Notably, the Airtel Rs. 597 pack is the second such long-term plan for its prepaid users. The operator had previously rolled out a Rs. 995 recharge pack that offers unlimited voice calls, 100 SMS messages per day, and 1GB 3G/ 4G data per month (total 6GB), with a validity of 180 days or around six months. While the Rs. 597 plan appears to be a better deal than Rs. 995 pack, the latter is currently applicable in most major telecom circles in India.
That said, Airtel's Rs. 597 plan will compete with Jio's Rs. 999 recharge pack. Under the long-term plan, Jio offers unlimited voice calling and 100 SMS messages per day benefits as well. However, the Jio plan comes with 90 days validity, but offers a total of 60GB 4G data. Also, the Jio plan is available in the open market.
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